Have you thought of doing Family Health Workers course? Wondering about its benefits and job opportunities? Here, on this page you can read the responses from experts and decide how it differs from general nursing and midwifery course.

What are the job opportunities of studying Female Health Worker(FHW) course as a government nominee in a government institute?What benefits does a medical student receive after completion of the course and how far is the said course relevant in the present job scenario?Is the course a valuable course compared to general nursing and midwifery course?

FHWs are expected to be multi-purpose health workers. FHW-related work includes maternal and child health along with family planning services. They will take care of health and nutrition education also. They will also put efforts for maintaining environmental sanitation, immunisation for the control of communicable diseases. They conduct treatment of minor injuries and first aid in emergencies and disasters.There are many jobs in India at this level. The next promotion will be nurse grade.drrao always confident

The responsibility of FHW are many fold and especially in our country where there are a lot of females including the old ones in the villages who are ignorant of the First - aid in case of emergency, FHW prove to be of immediate help in relation to health issues. They can conduct meeting in the village - level and discuss health - issues, sanitation problem and can offer vital tips to curb Dengue, Malaria, TB etc in their localities. Apart from this, they can guide pregnant mothers regarding their welfare and their unborn babies. They can distribute Iron and Calcium tabs available in the village - dispensaries. Their roles are advisory type and the ladies in the villages are immensely benifited.with their guidance. By having completed the course from a government - institution, they can easily be absorbed as a FHW in villages.

#146277

25 Oct 2017 17:30

Posted By: [Anonymous]

Points:

10 (Rs 10)

Since 1974, Multipurpose workers do the majority of the work in rural areas related to various national schemes (National Control Programs for TB, Malaria, Dysentery), they are also involved in vaccination, health education and family planning programs. They are valuable during epidemics and emergencies and also in data collection in the rural villages. Sitting in the city, we would not be able to appreciate their work, once you visit a rural Health welfare unit you will understand their role and services. Many of the nursing colleges (private and government) offer these courses.Taking the questions in your order.

1.The job opportunities will be good as long as you are willing to travel to other areas and are motivated to work that involves going to each house in the area under you Health unit.

2. Medical student should not do this course. In my view, there is NO benefit for a medical student doing this course as they study all these in Community Medicine and MBBS alone enough to get a job of a Medical officer in the rural areas. If you are a medical student interested in rural work, then I suggest you can try with MBBS or do MD in Community Medicine that will get you involved in similar work but at a much higher level of authority.

3. Comparing to Nursing and Midwifery course.ANM course(Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery) 2 year courseGNM course (General Nursing and Midwifery) 3 1/2 years courseBSc Nursing is a 5 year course.

If you are focussed only on a rural health service in small units, then you can choose ANM, if you want a wider reach to work in a hospital also then it's better to choose GNM course.

I would suggest ( hoping that you are yet to start studying for these nursing related courses) that you approach the Nursing superintendent of the local government hospital and take a 4 week observation period during which you can interact with the nurses doing nursing duties in all specialities including midwifery. You will also get a chance to interact with people already working in the field.

Next, find out the rural Health Care Unit that deals with work related to Healthcare worker/ Multipurpose worker, again here doing the same observation attachment. You can use both these experiences and decided for yourself as you would have understood what it takes to be a health worker or midwifery nurse and you can add these two months of voluntary service or pre-course experience in your CV

The jobs of a female health worker is multi-fold. They need to travel to different places to carry out their healthcare services. They can work in primary health centers, community health centers. Join hands with non-government agencies to provides healthcare services to the individuals and the communities. Their job involves in providing social support to the needed people, attend to community requirements, provide first aid and screening of blood pressure. They undertake preventive treatments for several diseases, conduct diagnostic screenings, create awareness of general health improvement. They take charge of assisting in diabetes management and help individuals in healthcare services. They update the records of medical health and information, provide advice in areas of children, education and help in medical problem solving issues. They work with government to provide services for precautionary measures for preventing diseases, provide services of distribution of brochures, pamphlets, for health and educational services in the communities. They help in referring community members/individuals for health services, provide advice on parenting. They attend to pregnant women concerns in registering their names, providing immunization details, help in care of young nursing mothers. They take up the services of promoting better sanitation, family planning services, prevention of communicable diseases, attend to sterilization and in minor treatments for injuries.The jobs are available as health worker, skill laboratory trainer, medical officer, health communication officer, health worker.

Subscribe to Email

About IndiaStudyChannel.com

Being the most popular educational website in India, we believe in providing quality content to our readers. If you have any questions or concerns regarding any content published here, feel free to contact us using the Contact link below.